ES-225 Stamp

[Sooner359]

Hey all,

I have an ES-225 given to me by my father and am looking for some info on it. He has always told me that it is a 1955 but when I did my own research, I found that 225's were only made with two pick-ups starting in 1956. I found that the 225T was a one pick-up and the 225TD was a two pick-up. The one I have is a two pick-up but only has ES- 225T stamped on it. Is it normal for them to leave off the "D" and let the two pick-ups be the identifier?  Thanks in advance!

[Twang Gang]

Hard to say - these sort of things are not an exact science especially going back to 1955 or 56.  You are correct that a TD meant two pickups.  It could be that since they were going to make them with two pickups in 1956 a few snuck out in late 1955 that way.  Or your father might just have been off by one year on when it was made.  Thirdly, could be that it started as one pickup and someone later added the second pickup and controls (although that is not likely, and your father certainly would have known if he owned it since new).

I would guess that it is simply a '56 or a late production '55 that got two pickups.

[Sooner359]

I am leaning more towards it being a '56 225TD that was just stamped as a 225T. I'll have to ask him if he bought it new or not. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he was off a year.  I was just curious if they normally stamped them as 225T, whether they were a T or a TD, and if it would have any implications on the rarity. How cool would it be to have a '55 that slipped through as a two pickup?? I do not know too much about vintage guitars but this one sure is a pretty cool to me! Regardless of what year it is, it sounds amazing and I'm not sure if I'll ever let it go. I partially learned how to play on it and am currently teaching my wife to play on it. Thanks for the reply, Twang Gang!

[Wmachine]

Still only a guess, but I think you're right about "just stamped a 225T".  I think this was more likely to happen with the first ones.  I don't think this was much of a concern when they were making them.  It's not like a different model altogether was stamped.